


Work of Art

by jaehwall



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 23:15:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaehwall/pseuds/jaehwall





	Work of Art

Kihyun had always thought that their small village had been too boring. It wasn't like nothing interesting was happening in his life, not at all. After all, he had his friends who were way too noisy for his liking, but he actually feels happier with all the noise, but he would never admit that to them. He just felt incomplete.

* * *

“This is Im Changkyun,” their homeroom teacher announced loudly, telling the student to come in the classroom. Kihyun could imagine their teacher smiling at the new student before he continued with his words. “He'll be with us starting today. So please,” he emphasized. “Treat him nicely.”

Kihyun was about to look up front until he heard Minhyuk blabbering about some random K-pop groups that he had recently discovered. He shaked his head before shifting his attention back to his sketchbook which was left unattended in front of him.

“Hi I'm Changkyun. Im Changkyun,” a low voice resounded throughout the whole room and Kihyun swore that he could feel chills running down his spine.

“He's rather cute, isn't he?” Minhyuk whispered to him, smiling as he poked Kihyun on his side. “He looks quiet though. A nerd maybe? Oh, I'm sure you'll get along with him because as the saying says birds flock with the same feather.”

Kihyun swatted his hands away before sending Minhyuk a glare. “Will you stop that!” he hissed, clenching his jaw as he kicked Minhyuk's leg subtly, earning an _ouch_ and a curse from the said person. “Also, it's birds of a feather flock together, you idiot.”

“Nerd,” Minhyuk whisper-shouted, laughing obnoxiously as Kihyun sent him a murderous glare.

“Lee, do you have anything that you want to share with the class?” their homeroom teacher, Mr. Park questioned, raising an eyebrow at his blonde friend.

He snickered lightly at Minhyuk, but the said friend simply smiled cheekily, saying a loud _no sir_ before waving at the transferee.

“Just a friendly reminder for you transfer student, I advise you to stay away from him,” another friend of his, Hyungwon called out from beside them, earning a blush from Minhyuk.

The whole class erupted into laughter as Minhyuk suddenly stuck his tongue out at Hyungwon, declaring that the transfer student should avoid Hyungwon instead because the said person does nothing but sleep and he almost looks like a zombie after waking from his slumber.

Kihyun subtly lifted his gaze up, eyes automatically drifting to the transferee. He was rather short and has black hair framing his small, yet, quite long face. A pair of round spectacles was perched on his nose bridge, making it seem like he was a typical goody two shoes. He felt his breath hitch in his throat as the pair of black eyes stared back into his very own, curiosity filling the other's orbs. He only realized that he had been staring for too long when Minhyuk nudged him, teasing him that the transfer student might actually melt if he keeps on staring him down.

“Have you fallen in love with the transfer student, Ki? That's quite rare, coming from you. I mean, no offense but, you're pretty ancient.”

Once again, the whole class erupted into laughter at the comment, making him glare at Minhyuk. He noticed how the transferee's ears turned red immediately at the teasing.

“Alright, joke time's over. Class, silence,” Mr. Park said, smiling apologetically at the transfer student. “Thank for that Lee—”

“T'was my pleasure, Mr. Park,” Minhyuk replied meekly, sending him a wink.

Mr. Park sighed, muttering a low _give me patience, oh Lord_ before pointing to the vacant seat beside Kihyun—which was located at the corner of the room, just exactly beside the window—motioning for the black-haired boy to move, “Go sit beside Yoo. Raise your hand please, Kihyun.”

Kihyun complied.

The black-haired boy nodded and smiled weakly at the teacher before walking towards the vacant seat beside Kihyun. “Please take care of me,” he uttered to Kihyun before taking a seat.

Kihyun stared for a few seconds before nodding, averting his attention back to his sketchbook.

_Better keep to yourself._

* * *

Kihyun realized that he had left his most valuable item just as the train was about to leave. Without hesitating, he stepped out the train, making Minhyuk look at him weirdly. “Are you crazy, Kihyun? Where the fuck are you going?”

“School, I left something important. I'll see you two at the cafe, I'll catch up, don't worry,” he replied, nodding at both of his friends before he started running back to the school.

It had been raining, hard. Kihyun considered himself unlucky as soon as he remembered that he had left his umbrella with Minhyuk. With a sigh, he jogged up the stairs, swiftly making his way to the 4th floor where the music room was located. He slid the door to their open and steps inside, expecting that there wasn't anyone inside. His eyes widened immediately as it landed on the occupied piano chair; there seating on the chair was a black-haired boy who was playing the piano without any care about the world, looking as if he had blocked the outside world. Kihyun made his way towards his table to retrieve the one thing he had forgotten, his sketchbook.

It's not that Kihyun didn't care about the people surrounding him, he was simply too busy to care; though he glanced subtly at the boy, realizing that his eyes were closed and had tears rolling down his cheeks.

_Oh, it's the transfer student._

_He's crying—but why?_

Then again, Kihyun wasn't the best at comforting people; Minhyuk—his bestest friend—told him jokingly after he tried to give him an advice before. He'd been told that his words were too harsh, but seeing as that they've been friends for like eternity, Minhyuk usually takes his words lightly.

“You're crying,” he thought as he took a step forward. Eyes widening upon realizing that he just voiced out his opinion instead of just keeping it in his head.

His comment obviously took the other by surprise, making him play the wrong key before his eyes fluttered open. Kihyun saw a flash of regret and maybe fear in his eyes, but then again, it could have been only him assuming things.

“I left something—”

A pause.

“Sorry. I'll leave you alone then,” he muttered, grabbing the black sketchbook which was left abandoned on his table. It had been too awkward for him.

“You're drenched.”

He stopped before turning around to face the other.

“Yeah.”

He debated whether he should continue talking to the black-haired boy or not. He kind of pitied him as he was new after all and Kihyun knows the pain of transferring midyear, seeing as he had experienced the same thing before. Shaking his head, he coughed awkwardly in attempt catching the attention of the transfer student.

It worked, though.

The mysterious pair of black eyes stared at him, as if expecting something. Kihyun would be lying if he said that he didn't panic for a second.

“You can you know, tell me anything—if you want to, that is,” he told him, scratching his neck awkwardly with his free hand.

They bathed in silence for a couple of minutes and Kihyun was close to losing his mind. It seems like the black-haired boy wasn't going to start talking anytime soon, making Kihyun slightly regret his decision. He should've just left him alone instead of trying to be Mister Nice Guy.

“Yeah, I'll leave now,” he said, turning around to leave the room. He sighed inwardly as he began walking towards the door, still gripping the sketchbook tightly in his hand.

“Thank you.”

It was soft yet Kihyun definitely heard it. He glanced backward, sending a small smile at the black-haired boy before fully stepping out of the room.

“I'm telling you, I'm sure about this—”

Kihyun blocked the rest of whatever Minhyuk is ranting about and focused on his sketchbook instead. He gripped the pencil lightly, spinning it around his fingers as he searched for an inspiration in his brain.

His thoughts immediately went to the black-haired transfer student and how he had cried earlier. An hour had passed since he saw him crying in the classroom yet, Kihyun feels like it had been just a few seconds ago. He was no musical genius, but he clearly remembers the melody of the piece that he had been playing before Kihyun interrupted him. He also thought about the way his tears rolled down his cheeks and how it glittered against the light of the room. He looked beautiful and Kihyun found him way too beautiful for his liking.

“What're you daydreaming for?” Minhyuk asked him, waving a hand in front of his face. “So you're telling me that I've been talking for minutes here and you aren't even listening?”

“That's because your stories are fucking lame, Min,” Hyungwon drawled, sipping on his coffee as his eyes wandered towards Kihyun, lips curling into a smirk. “Penny for your thoughts?”

He loves his friends but he would rather live peacefully than having them tease him for the rest of his life, that's why telling them is definitely off the list.

“The transfer student, he's pretty quiet isn't he?”

Hyungwon lets out a low sound of agreement, nodding as his eyes flickered towards Kihyun for a second, or maybe it was just Kihyun overthinking things. “He is.”

“I think I've only heard his voice twice today,” Minhyuk trailed, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to recall the things which occurred earlier. His eyes also shifted over to Kihyun before his gaze softened, concern filling his eyes, “You okay, Ki?”

He had been feeling dizzy for the past few minutes but he was never going to admit that, after all, he didn't want his friends to worry

“It's nothing,” he muttered, dismissing the topic with a wave of his hand before his grabbed his own cup of coffee, letting the sweet aroma of the coffee calm his nerves, distracting him from his thoughts. “I just can't think of an inspiration,” he explained, putting down his pencil before facing the window.

Hyungwon hummed in reply before giving him a small smile, “Whatever floats your boat, Kihyun. Just don't tire yourself thinking about whatever's on your mind.”

Kihyun sighed.

Hyungwon was right, why should he worry over something so trivial?

_Right?_

* * *

Kihyun was surprised the next time they meet, it was purely coincidental though. Kihyus meets the black-haired boy in a local convenience store just around the block. Similar to him, the other wore baggy pants and an oversized shirt, the only difference was that the other wore it better.

“Hey,” the other muttered as he walked past him, heading immediately for the aisle filled with instant noodles.

_Wow, healthy._

_Not._

_It's not like you didn't come to buy the same thing too._

Kihyun's eyes followed the walking figure, lips flattening into a line. He barely talks to the people at school so why should he bother with him anyway? He watched at the black-haired boy pick up a cup of ramen, briefly glancing at the floor before turning to walk towards the counter.

Kihyun sighed but still went over to the aisle with noodles to pick up the same cup of ramen. He, like the black-haired boy quietly made his way towards the counter.

Changkyun was sitting by the window by the time he got to the counter. He smiled subtly at the girl who mirrored his actions before saying a brief greeting.

“I'd like to also get some cheese. Make it two.”

The girl nodded at him before telling him how much it all costed. With one last smile, Kihyun gave him the money before grabbing all his purchases.

“Is this seat taken?”

The other's eyes settled on his face, surprised filling them both as soon as Kihyun finished his question.

He blinked for a couple of times before letting out a cough; he shook his head before turning back to preparing his ramen. “No, you can take it.”

“You wanna know a fun way to eat instant ramen?” he asked the other, the corner of his lips curling upwards as he placed the cheese on top of the ramen.

The pair of eyes were then filled with curiosity, growing bigger as Kihyun proceeded. It was like he was a kid being told stories to, naive and barely knows about the dark secrets of the world.

“It's really delicious this way. If you don't eat it like this then you're missing out a lot,” said Kihyun, grinning at the other as he did the same to his ramen before taking his cup to fill it with water.

The black-haired boy followed, approaching him quietly as he held out his cup for Kihyun to fill it with water. Kihyun smiled softly before taking both cups and placing it inside the microwave.

“Are you here often?”

Changkyun simply nodded weakly, lips trembling as he attempted to flash a smile at the other man. He bit his lips before he started fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

“You seem cautious around me… Do I make you uncomfortable? Sorry if that's the case, I'll be leaving now. Sorry again,” Kihyun murmured softly as the microwave gave a loud beep, indicating that it had finally finished heating the ramen. He gave the other one last smile before turning around.

“It's fine.”

The other's voice was so small that he probably wouldn't be able to hear it had the loud, annoying music the convenience store blasted never stopped.

“Whatever happened in the music room-” Changkyun started, lips quivering as he let the words tumble from his tongue. “Please forget about it…”

Kihyun paused.

“About that, I've been meaning to ask you if you could join our band…”

Kihyun heard the other man's breath stop.


End file.
